Top 535 Quotes & Sayings by John Wooden - Page 3

Make each day a masterpiece. Don't think your best days are out there somewhere. Why not today? Why can't today be a great day? It can if you believe it will.

Winning takes talent; to repeat takes character.

Knowledge is not enough to get desired results. You must have the more elusive ability to teach and to motivate. This defines a leader; if you can't teach and you can't motivate, you can't lead.

It is amazing how much can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the credit.

Respect every opponent, but fear none.

Flexibility is the key to stability.

There is a choice you have to make in everything you do. So keep in mind that in the end, the choice you make, makes you.

Promise yourself you will talk health, happiness, and prosperity as often as possible. Promise to think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best in yourself and others. Promise to forget the mistakes of the past and press on to greater achievements in the future.

The four laws of learning are: the first is demonstration of what you want. The second is the criticism of the demonstration. The third is the imitation of the correct model, and the fourth is repetition, over and over until it becomes habit where is you don't think about it.

The most powerful leadership tool you have is your personal example.

Leadership is the ability to get individuals to work together for the common good and the best possible results while at the same time letting them know they did it themselves.

Make sure that team members know they are working with you, not for you.

It takes time to create excellence. If it could be done quickly, more people would do it.

Good values are like a magnet – they attract good people.

Nobody is a real loser-until they start blaming somebody else.

Be quick without hurrying.

If we magnified blessings as much as we magnify disappointments, we would all be much happier.

You are not a failure until you start blaming others for your mistakes

When opportunity comes it is too late to prepare.

You haven't taught until they've learned.

How you run the race - your planning, preparation, practice, and performance - counts for everything. Winning or losing is a by-product, and aftereffect, of that effort.

Worry about your character, not your reputation. Your character is who you are, and your reputetion is who people think you re.

I believe one of the requirements of good leadership is the ability to listen - really listen - to those in your organization. An effective leader is very good at listening, and it's difficult to listen when you are talking.

It matters not the subject taught, nor all the books on all the shelves, What matters most, yes most of all, is what the teachers are themselves.

My bench never heard me mention winning. My whole emphasis was for each one of my players to try to learn to execute the fundamentals to the best of their ability. Not to try to be better than somebody else, but to learn from others, and never cease trying to be the best they could be; that's what I emphasized more than anything else.

Give me 100 percent. You can't make up for a poor effort today by giving 110 percent tomorrow. You don't have 110 percent. You only have 100 percent, and that's what I want from you right now.

We're not all equal as far as intelligence is concerned. We're not equal as far as size. We're not all equal as far as appearance. We do not all have the same opportunities. We're not born in the same environments, but we're all absolutely equal in having the opportunity to make the most of what we have and not comparing or worrying about what others have.

Mistakes come from doing, but so does success.

Big things are accomplished only through the perfection of minor details.

There is no substitute for hard work. If you're looking for the easy way, if you're looking for the trick, you might get by for a while, but you will not be developing the talents that lie within you. There is simply no substitute for work.

1. Be on time. 2. Never criticize a teammate. 3. Never use profanity.

There are little details in everything you do, and if you get away from any one of the little details, you're not teaching the thing as a whole. For it is little things which, together, make the whole. This, I think, is extremely important.

Good things take time, as they should. We shouldn't expect good things to happen overnight. Actually, getting something too easily or too soon can cheapen the outcome.

Surround yourself with people strong enough to change your mind.

When you improve a little each day, eventually big things occur.

The general feeling is, if you don't treat everyone the same you're showing partiality. To me, that's when you show the most partiality, when you treat everyone the same. You must give each individual the treatment that you feel he earns and deserves, recognizing at all times that you're imperfect and you're going to be incorrect oftentimes in your judgment.

First, do not betray yourself. Second, do not betray those you lead.

We must be challenged to improve, and adversity is the challenger.

Be observing constantly. Stay open-minded. Be eager to learn and improve.

The team is the star, never an individual player.

Never try to be better than somebody else. But most importantly, never cease trying to be the best you can be.

Show me what you can do; don't tell me what you can do.

We can agree to disagree, but we don’t need to be disagreeable.

Doing the best you are capable of doing is victory in itself, and less than that is defeat.

Players with fight never lose a game, they just run out of time

Working with others makes us much more than we could ever become alone

Happiness begins where selfishness ends.

Stay the course. When thwarted try again; harder; smarter. Persevere relentlessly.

It is normal to enjoy praise and dislike criticism. True character is when you prevent either from affecting you in a negative matter.

A leader’s most powerful ally is his or her own example.

It's not how big you are, it's how big you play.

Being a role model is the most powerful form of educating. Youngsters need good models more than they need critics. It's one of a parent's greatest responsibilities and opportunities.

Five years from now, you’re the same person except for the people you’ve met and the books you’ve read.

Reputation is what others perceive you as being, and their opinion may be right or wrong. Character, however, is what you really are, and nobody truly knows that but you. But you are what matters most.

Good judgment, common sense, and reason all fly out the window when emotions kick down your door.

Don't get discouraged: it is often the last key in the bunch that opens the lock. Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.

Class is an intangible quality which commands, rather than demands, the respect of others.

Don't think that you can make up for it by working twice as hard tomorrow. If you have it within your power to work twice as hard, why aren't you doing it now?

Don't whine, complain, or make excuses.

Why do we dread adversity when we know that facing it is the only way to become stronger, smarter, better?